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One year later

This is my attempt to revive my severely neglected blog, which I enthusiastically started just before moving to Manchester for my fellowship at The University of Manchester, exactly one year ago.

In that year, a lot has happened, of which, I would say, most was condensed in the second half, which at the same time explains why I haven’t written a blog post since August. I did make one attempt in November, entitled ‘My hole in the ground’, but I never finished it, which says it all, really!

It’s been a good, but unbelievably busy, and, from September, unbelievably stressful year:

We set up a new lab from scratch. We just about got most of the equipment set up and running last month! This has been a challenge, at times, with people (including me) running experiments and needing the lab equipment.

It has also been a challenge, albeit (mostly) an enjoyable one, to get to know how everything works at a new workplace, and to start doing my first teaching. Balancing doing research with students demanding attention and juggling new administrative and marking tasks is something that you have to get used to!

I’ve also submitted three grant proposals, one small one and two big ones (I got the small one, didn’t get one big one, and am still hoping for the second big one).

Finally, I have had a complicated operation on my hand, which was very successful, and has resulted in me being able to do all the things that I used to do before I broke my scaphoid 1.5 years ago: mountain biking, climbing, getting out of the swimming pool, even just leaning on my hand.

But what caused last year to be stressful was the fact that all these things occurred at the same time – in September and October. So, I submitted a big grant proposal, just before I harvested a major experiment while not having a fully set up lab, after which I went straight into my operation, after which I had to teach for the first time, then I organised and chaired our first Plants, Soils, Ecosystems meeting, after which I submitted another big grant proposal. Does this sound crazy? It was.

But, now it’s 2014, I feel refreshed and motivated, and I am determined to revive my blog!

So far, the posts I have been writing varied quite a lot in their topic – from my move to Manchester, to academia in general, to more science-y posts about soils in general, and my own research. I wonder what my readers (if there are any left!) find most interesting and enjoyable to read, but I am tempted to make my posts more science-y, about ecology in general, and plant-soil interactions and soil ecology specifically. If you’re interested the latter two: also keep an eye out for Plants, Soils, Ecosystems’ new journal club, in which we will discuss articles that have recently been published within the broader field of soil ecology and plant-soil interactions. I will post the first paper by the end of next week, and we will aim for bi-weekly/once-a-monthly updates, facilitating (hopefully) lively discussions and interaction between people interested in plant-soil interactions!